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Graphene-based Desalination

Sustainability Problem and Proposed Solution:

Water shortages are a global concern that needs to be addressed. Our biggest available source is the ocean, but current desalination processes are limited. One of the big limitations is how much pressure it takes to perform reverse osmosis. High pressures means for high energy costs, and in order to be sustainable, desalination needs to be energy efficient. A graphene filter would be thinner than contemporary models. We believe its utilization would result in less energy usage.

The creation of our prototype would involve two graphene-based filters situated below a sand trap within PVC piping. We must also build a polyamide system of the same dimensions to compare to our system using desalination tests that measure both conductivity and pressure. The major steps for the completion are to first create a graphene membrane using deposition methods. Next the graphene needs to be perforated with pore sizes smaller than a nanometer. After this, we must construct our prototype so that we can interchangeably place different filters within it. Last we will perform efficiency testing that measures the salinity of desalinated samples along with pressure required for the system to work.

Metrics for Success:

If our graphene membrane can work at a lower pressure and still desalinate as much water as a polyamide membrane the project will be successfully completed.

Result Categories:

Technology

Results:

Our project should result in both a desalination prototype and a short opensource booklet explaining useful methodologies for graphene deposition so that others can have more direction when working with graphene.